About Burton Silverman

Study for a self portrait, 2018, oil :linen on wood, 12x10in.

Study for a self portrait, 2018, oil :linen on wood, 12x10in.

Over the years, many artists have referred to Silverman as a grandfather Figure of sorts, a guiding presence who either through his artwork or teaching — the artist has been hosting classes in his Manhattan studio since 1971, while also teaching at the Art Students League of New York and the School of Visual Arts, — has been an example and inspiration for those wanting to learn how to create convincing portraits while also learning from Silverman’s many decades of accomplishment. Considering that the artist has seen almost 80-years worth of action and reaction in the New York art world and has worked with, observed, and corresponded with important figures from many different camps, Silverman is a veritable storehouse of information and historical perspective. From In The Studios : Burton Silverman by Allison Malafronte

::Condensed Biography::

Mr. Silverman been painting and exhibiting as a fine artist for over 60 years. He has had had 36 solo shows across the country including venues in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C,., San Francisco, Maine and Nashville TN.  He has appeared in numerous national and international exhibitions including the National Portrait Gallery, the National Academy Annuals, the Mexico City Museum of Art, the Royal Academy of Art in London and the Butler Midyear Annuals. He has won 38 major prizes and awards from several of these annual exhibitions and the National Academy Museum has honored him with 9 prizes including the Ranger Purchase Awards in 1965 and 1983  

His paintings are represented in 32 public collections including the Arkansas Art Institute, the Brooklyn Museum, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the New Britain Museum, The  Metropolitan Museum of Art. the Denver Art Museum, the Smithsonian American  Art Museum, and the  Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. His work is included in numerous private collections both in the U.S. and Europe. Since 1993 he has lectured in museums and university graduate programs on the theme of realist art.  He has written articles in online and print publications on the same subject matter.

Selected important Exhibitions

  • April 2015 A Graphic Odyssey, 60 years of drawing at the Century Association. NYC

  • Sept-Dec 2011 Burton Silverman; the Humanist Spirit a retrospective at the Hofstra University Museum, LI, NY

  • July -August 2010 Realism Recovered A 10 year retrospective at the Sherwin Miller Museum of Jewish Art, Tulsa OK

  • 2006 A retrospective exhibit titled the Intimate Eye; the Drawings of Burton Silverman at the Brigham Young Museum of Art and traveled to the Butler institute of American Art and the Lyme Academy College of Art in 2007

  • • February 2005 he was awarded the 7th Annual Excellence in the Arts Award from the Newington Cropsey Cultural Foundation .

  • • May -June of 2005 the Delaware Art Museum hosted the exhibition “Glorious Dignity: Drawings of the Montgomery Bus Boycott by Harvey Dinnerstein and Burton Silverman” and a sequential loan exhibit of these works has been shown in a 50th Anniversary Exhibition: Protest in Montgomery at the Montgomery Museum of Art in 2006.

  • May 2004 he was awarded the Gold Medal of the Portrait Society of America for lifetime achievement in figurative art .

Click here for a full biography  including  honors, awards and collections